News Releases

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  OSA CEO Testifies on Capitol Hill about Importance of R&D Funding

  22 March 2012
  Testifying on Capitol Hill today, Optical Society (OSA) CEO Elizabeth Rogan called for sustained federal investments in research and development (R&D) funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) FY 2013 budgets. Rogan testified before the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, which has jurisdiction of NSF and NIST’s budgets.
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  OSA Corporate Associates and Layer123 Partner to Launch Executive Forum Europe

  20 March 2012
  The Optical Society (OSA) Corporate Associates and Layer123 have formed a new working partnership, intended to increase networking opportunities for the global optical communications industry. Through the partnership, the two organizations have launched “Executive Forum Europe,” which will take place at Layer123’s Terabit Optical & Data Networking conference in Cannes, France, April 17.
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  Optics Express Focus Issue: Modular Ultrafast Lasers

  13 March 2012
  Ultrafast lasers, lasers that emit light pulses that are as short as a few femtoseconds, have enabled a wide-range of fundamental science and applications over the past two decades. To highlight recent state-of-the-art developments in femtosecond lasers, the Optical Society (OSA) today published a series of papers as part of an upcoming special Focus Issue on Modular Ultrafast Lasers in its open-access journal Optics Express. The issue is organized and edited by Wilson Sibbett and Tom Brown of the University of St Andrews in the United Kingdom, and focuses on developments based on solid-state, semiconductor and fiber lasers.
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  OSA Local Section Established in Egypt

  12 March 2012
  The Optical Society (OSA) is pleased to announce the formation of a new Local Section in Egypt. The Alhazen Egyptian OSA Local Section was recently approved by the OSA Member and Education Services Council and will serve the Cairo area. Professor Mohamed Abdel Harith of the National Institute of Laser Enhanced Science at Cairo University will serve as president of this section, which is a self-governing organization with its own officers and bylaws.
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  OFC/NFOEC Ends on High Note in Los Angeles

  12 March 2012
  The optical communications industry’s leading event wrapped up last week in Los Angeles with increased attendance, a larger show floor and plenty of buzz and enthusiasm surrounding the innovations presented in the technical sessions.
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  2012 Corning Student Paper Competition Winner Announced

  06 March 2012
  The OSA Foundation and Corning Incorporated today announced Eric Rodrique Numkam Fokoua, of the University of South Hampton in the United Kingdom, the 2012 Corning Outstanding Student Paper Competition winner.
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  Anonymous Donor Agrees to Match Up to $50,000 of Donations to Paul Bonenfant Memorial Scholarship

  02 March 2012
  The OSA Foundation has announced a new challenge grant that will benefit the recently launched Paul A. Bonenfant Memorial Scholarship. An anonymous donor has agreed to a 1:1 match of any donation made after Feb. 14, up to $50,000. The total fundraising goal for the campaign is $190,000. The Foundation is challenging supporters to meet the $50,000 goal by the end of March.
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  Graphene-Based Optical Modulators Poised to Break Speed Limits in Digital Communications

  01 March 2012
  In yet another astounding application of the “wonder material” graphene, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley discovered that it makes an excellent active media for optical modulators. Graphene-based modulators are expected to significantly enhance ultrafast optical communication and computing. The team will report on their findings at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC) taking place next week in Los Angeles.
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  On the Path to 1 Terabit-Per-Second Networks

  01 March 2012
  As IP traffic continues to increase and the router interface rate extends beyond 100 gigabits-per-second (Gb/s), future optical networks—ones that would achieve unprecedented speeds of 1 terabit-per-second (Tb/s)—will be required to support the rapid growth of data services with different capacities and patterns on the same optical platform.
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  BioPhotonic Solutions, Inc. Receives 2012 CLEO/Laser Focus World Innovation Award

  29 February 2012
  The CLEO: 2012 co-sponsors (APS, IEEE Photonics Society, OSA) and Laser Focus World today announced BioPhotonic Solutions, Inc. as the winner of this year’s CLEO/Laser Focus World Innovation Award. The award recognizes the company "for the development of femtoAdaptiv™: the first ultrafast laser capable of adaptive pulse self-compression that delivers ultrashort (sub-10 fs) pulses at the focal plane of a microscope objective."BioPhotonic Solutions, Inc. will accept the award at the CLEO Plenary Session Tuesday, May 8 at 8 a.m. in the San Jose Civic Auditorium.

OSA Members in the News